Page 19 of Forbidden Passion

“Ciara, I think you should stay in bed until the doctor arrives.”

She laughed softly, and touched his cheek. She desperately wanted to kiss him, to soothe away the worry on his face. But she knew what happened when they kissed and it wasn’t soothing…it was glorious.

For a brief moment, she considered kissing him anyway. She could use his strong arms around her right now. She wouldlove to snuggle up against his chest and press her face close to the warmth of his neck. She’d love to tell him that she was scared. No, not just scared. She was terrified. There was little chance of her falling asleep tonight. She’d have nightmares for sure.

However, before she could act upon the thought, Falk turned his head, pressing a kiss to the middle of her palm. She gasped and tried to reclaim her hand, but he held onto her wrist, keeping it still. “Ciara,” he murmured, softly enough that the guards on the far side of the room couldn’t hear, but since they were in what most people would call an intimate embrace, her guards could probably tell that something was transpiring.

She glanced over at the guard closest and saw his jaw clench as he turned away. Suppressing a smile, she pulled back from Falk. Thankfully, he released her hand this time and she scooted further up the bed so she could lean against the mountain of pillows. “You shouldn’t be in my bedroom,” she said, feigning a primness that she didn’t feel.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be here.” He didn’t move. “I should be in the ballroom, pretending to give a damn about my responsibilities.”

She laughed as he rolled his eyes.

“You should be by my brother’s side, being all nice and polite to the diplomats and business leaders who must be irritated that you’ve vanished and therefore aren’t there for them to offer a proposal or make a connection.”

He huffed his impatience. “They can suffer.” He leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of her hips. “What…?”

Ciara’s heart stopped at his expression, but a noise in the doorway announced the arrival of the palace doctor. “YourHighness, I heard that you’ve had an incident tonight,” the man said as he bustled into the room.

Ciara truly detested the man. He was about seventy years old and stuck in his misogynistic ways. He’d gone to medical school over half a century ago and was very dismissive of her concerns. And that was why she always went to an outside doctor whenever she had a medical issue. This doctor still believed that most of her problems were in her head, that most women just needed to relax and their problems would somehow go away. In his mind, they were simple creatures that needed to be coddled instead of taken seriously. He was of the mindset that women were “hysterical”, too emotional, most of the time due to their estrogen levels.

She hadn’t said anything to her brother about this jerk’s medical advice, or lack thereof, so it was her fault that he was here now, already opening up his medical bag.

“I’m fine, Doctor Harroby,” she said firmly and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “No need for your services.” She stood up and stared down at the man who had his stethoscope out, ready to listen to her heart.

“But I really should examine you, my dear.” The man had the audacity to step forward, ready to press the cold metal to her chest.

Ciara stepped away quickly. “You know, Doctor Harroby, you’re just going to say I had a scare and that I need to rest. Then, you’re going to offer me a sedative, am I right?”

He hesitated, his mouth moving silently. But in the end, he nodded slowly. “Well, yes. If you had a scare, my dear, then a sedative would give you relief and help you rest.”

“Yes, of course. And I’ll feel much better in the morning. That’s what you’ve told me over and over throughout the years.”As she remembered the number of times that he’d come to her bedside to treat a bruise or a scrape, a panic attack or when she’d passed out from the pain of her nanny’s abuse, Ciara’s temper rose. “Instead of actually discovering the problem, you would just give me a pill and assume I was fine, walking away with your male arrogance intact.” She brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “Well, I willnottake a sedative, Doctor. Please leave my bedroom. I’ll speak with my personal physician tomorrow.”

His eyes widened in shock. “You…you see a medical professional outside of the palace? My dear, that’s so dangerous!”

“Really?” she snapped, irritated that he wasn’t gone from her presence already. “Would you have provided me with birth control?”

“Absolutely not!” the man replied, clearly horrified at the idea. “There’s no need for you to use birth control, my dear. You’re not married!”

Ciara ignored the muffled laughter from the guards at his words. “You’ve just proven my point. I am on birth control, Doctor. And because of your patriarchal attitudes, I had to go outside of the palace for medical help.” She took a deep breath, ignoring the older man’s affront. “Leave my bedroom, Doctor.”

The man still hesitated, and Ciara had had enough. She truly abhorred this man, who had ignored every instance of evidence of abuse in her childhood. “Get out!” she yelled.

The man jumped, grabbed his medical bag, his stethoscope still dangling from his ears, and hurried from the room.

Ciara held her breath until the man was out of her bedroom. And even then, she waited until she heard the door to her suite open, then close with a resounding thud.

Only then did she release the breath she’d been holding. Then she remembered that Falk and two of her bodyguards were in the room, and had seen the whole thing. Her guards had to close their mouths while Falk looked…unexpectedly impressed?

Ciara turned, all of the righteous anger leaving her now that the offensive man had gone.

“I apologize for the spectacle and–”

She couldn’t speak because Falk had pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It wasn’t just a sweet kiss. This was a resounding applause and she gasped, her mouth opening so he could deepen the kiss. Ciara wrapped her arms around his neck, basking in his physical praise.

When he pulled away, he said, “That wasamazing.” Before she could answer him, he kissed her again. Ciara barely had time to glance over to confirm that her bedroom door had been pulled closed behind the hastily departing guards before she turned back to Falk.

Now that they were alone, Ciara couldn’t stop herself. With frantic hands, she pushed his tuxedo jacket off his shoulders, then began working at the knot on his tie and the buttons on his dress shirt.

---